The Mona Foundation is a non-profit organisation, created in 2000, dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of primates. It also does important educational and scientific work. It is located in Riudellots de la Selva (Girona) and the promoter of the project is Olga Feliu, a veterinarian, who has a large, sensitive and highly qualified group of helpers. The main objective of the Foundation is to campaign for primates not to be used in advertising or kept as pets, trying to raise public awareness, especially among children.
The Foundation receives only 10 % of its income from public funding; the rest comes from members, supporters and the activities it organises. The Mona Foundation organises activities and carries out research in high-level scientific disciplines, and also works with organisations and universities around the world. The site where the Foundation is located has an area of 5,400 m2, and mainly houses common chimpanzees and macaques. Among many other well-wishers, the Foundation has received support from Jane Goodall, Eudald Carbonell, Brigitte Bardot and the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), some of whom have visited its premises.
LiverdPress Award 2016
The Mona Foundation received the 2016 LiverdPress Award for its exemplary humanitarian work in rescuing and rehabilitating primates, for its untiring and effective work in raising awareness among humans of the need to respect animals, especially primates, and for having created a network of young researchers and activists working to achieve a dignified existence for animals.